“You believe this proves that someone else is after the treasure?”

“I do.”

“But the fact that a hacker tried to snoop inside your computer could be completely disconnected from the hunt.”

“I don’t think so. No one’s tried to do that since I set up the computers weeks ago. Now, right after we start finding clues, they try?”

“The timing could be a coincidence.”

“It’s not. On my desktop computer, I only store information about this non-profit that’s of no value to anyone except the employees here. A person would only go to the trouble of hacking into that computer if they thought I’d saved treasure hunt information there.”

She picked up a pen and tapped it thoughtfully against the head of her alabaster pug.

“Your dad brought me into this hunt,” he said, “because he suspected at least one other person might get involved. It’s now clear that at least one other person is involved.”

“That’s . . . sobering.”

Having no adversary in this hunt would have been the best scenario. But since an adversary did exist, this was the second-best scenario. At least now, he had proof. His concerns—Ed’s concerns—were justified. “Somebody else is on the hunt for the treasure.”

“Should we change anything we’re doing?”

“We haven’t been storing information about the hunt on our computers,” he said, “and this confirms that we definitely can’t do that going forward. Just to be safe, we both also need to clear our search history every time we look up anything on the Internet that’s connected to the hunt.”

She nodded.

“I’m going to beef up security around here,” he said. The Center’s security sucked. The doors leading from the foyer to the rest of the building and from the building to the play yard had key codes. However, the employees and volunteers were too lazy to use them so they’d been deactivated. He’d get them back online. “Make sure you turn your house alarm on. Stay on the lookout for anything unusual. Be aware of the people in your surroundings in case the same face keeps popping up. When you’re driving, make sure no one’s following.”

“Done.”

“Most of all, take Agatha off my hands because she makes it hard for me to concentrate.”

“I’ll be finalizing her adoption soon,” she said earnestly. “It’s just taking me a bit longer than expected to get the paperwork through.”

“Tomorrow I’ll have had her a week.”

“Agatha’s adoption is a high priority of mine, Luke.”

“Yeah? Then how come your puppy got adopted before mine?”

“Because Oscar’s family requested a male.”

“Finley, I’m about to take Agatha to the nearest freeway and throw a dog treat in front of an oncoming car.”

“If you’re using hyperbole, you really must be desperate.” She smiled. “She’ll be adopted shortly.”